U.S. Olympic gold medalists in curling John Landsteiner, Matt Hamilton, Joe Polo and Tyler George, left to right, demonstrate their sport on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, before ringing the opening bell, Friday, March 2, 2018. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

FILE - In this Feb. 24, 2018, file photo, the United States team poses with their gold medals after winning the men's final curling match against Sweden at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea. The gold-medal winning U.S. men’s curling team has skipped out on its planned autograph session at the USA Curling National Championships in North Dakota because skip John Schuster and company are taking the celebrity tour of talk shows and other venues. Tourney organizers in Fargo are disappointed but say the country’s first curling gold medal has given the steadily-growing sport another shot in the arm. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)

Workers put the finishing touches around the ice at Scheels Arena on Friday, March 2, 2018, in preparation for the USA Nationals men's and women's curling tournament in Fargo, N.D. Tourney organizers say the event has drawn more interest because of the Olympic gold medal won by the U.S. team led by John Shuster. Shuster's team was forced to bow out of the national tourney because of promotional obligations. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)

Terry Nimerichter, left, and Gerard Gourde, wrap up ice making equipment at the Scheels Arena on Friday, March 2, 2018 in Fargo, N.D. The equipment was used to help put down the ice for the USA Nationals men's and women's curling tournament that runs through March 10. The equipment is being shipped to Las Vegas where it will be used to make ice for the world championships that start at the end of March. (AP Photo/Dave Kolpack)

Fargo or New York? Easy call for gold medal US curling team

By DAVE KOLPACK

Mar. 02, 2018

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — John Shuster's U.S. Olympic curling team had planned for a whirlwind couple of months in 2018, hoping to bounce from the Pyeongchang Games to the USA Nationals in Fargo and then perhaps on to the World Curling Championship in Las Vegas.

On Friday, the day before the start of the national tournament, Shuster's team found themselves being chauffeured around the Big Apple after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. It's part of a celebrity tour that includes television appearances, a Sports Illustrated photo shoot, the ceremonial puck drop at an NHL game, an outdoor curling exhibition in Manhattan's Bryant Park and even a cameo by Tyler George and Matt Hamilton in a Broadway play.

As a result, the team has bowed out of the Fargo event. Team member John Landsteiner said "it hurts a little bit" to miss his first national tournament in 12 years and a shot at worlds, but it's tough to complain about the VIP treatment in New York.

"We keep kind of joking about it: 'Well, we could be in Fargo right now,'" Landsteiner said, chuckling.

Rick Patzke, the CEO of Stevens Point, Wisconsin-based USA Curling who is accompanying the group in New York, said the team is handling its newfound fame well, knowing that it's the best chance any U.S. curling team has had to promote the game that has seen steady growth since it became an official Olympic sport in 2006.

"They kind of wake up and say, "Where do we go today?' It's kind of like 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' times a thousand," said Patzke, referring to the 1980s movie starring Matthew Broderick.

Said Landsteiner, "It all feels pretty cool to a bunch of small-town guys from Minnesota."

Patzke said Shuster's team is still hoping to make an appearance in Fargo, although that could be nixed by a West Coast media tour.

"If we can have a plane change in Fargo, that would be great," he said.

The national tournament at Scheels Arena in Fargo kicks off with the opening ceremony Saturday and ends with the men's and women's championships on March 10. While fans may be disappointed that Team Shuster isn't playing, tourney organizers say their gold medal places more attention on the event and there are several men's and women's teams that could be future Olympic medalists.

"They are on a massive tour right now promoting the sport. And it's good for it," said Evan Workin, the manager of the Fargo-Moorhead Curling Club and a member of the Jed Brundidge team that's playing for a national title. "It's obviously something you need to do."

USA Curling staff member Tom Violette, who was helping Friday with finishing touches inside the Fargo arena, said the opportunities that come with an Olympic title are "just too important and too numerous" to pass up. He also said the interest that goes with the gold medal has made it "enjoyable and challenging" for the curling organization.

"Pretty crazy times right now. It's just nuts. I can't come up for a better word for it," Violette said. "I don't think anyone in the world expected a gold medal."

Stock market watchers might have expected the Shuster team to turn their investments into gold Friday, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened more than 200 points down.

"They said it was down less because we were there," Patzke said. "That made us feel better."